


Act Two Finale

by fandomfix



Series: A Woeful Ballad [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Emotional Constipation, Idiots in Love, Introspection, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Sequel, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7729066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomfix/pseuds/fandomfix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Because it has been six months. Six months since he last saw Kylo Ren. They’ve been apart for almost the same amount of time they were together. Hux should be well over having any type of reaction to mentions of the man.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Act Two Finale

**Author's Note:**

> So I consider this an optional sequel. The original fic was meant to be stand-alone, but so many people wanted to know what came next and I got inspired so I wrote this. If you liked Act One Climax on it's own, it isn't necessary to read this. But I hope you might do it anyway!

It feels like he’s been here before. Sitting at his desk reading over forms on his datapad when he receives a message from Snoke.

This could be any other night if it weren’t for the words at the very bottom.

_‘You will be welcoming back Lord Ren in the coming days. Prepare accordingly.’_

Those words cause him to freeze. Everything stops, from his hands to his breath and if he were a more dramatic man he might even say his heart stops.

Because it has been six months. Six months since he last saw Kylo Ren. They’ve been apart for almost the same amount of time they were together. Hux should be well over having any type of reaction to mentions of the man.

He’s been telling himself he was over him every night for the past six months. He doesn’t toss and turn anymore, but he still remembers the last time he had a good night’s sleep. It was also the last time he even contemplated sleeping with anyone.

Because six months ago, he had known something but refused to acknowledge it. In the weeks following Kylo’s departure, it was forced to the front of his mind.

He loves him. He would destroy worlds in Kylo’s name if he asked for it. He would destroy Snoke and the Order both if Kylo wanted him to. He allowed himself to fall into this well of emotions that he has no way of escaping.

Not until he sees Kylo’s face again. Not until he hears Kylo’s voice again. Not until he knows once and for all what Kylo thinks of him.

He sets the datapad down on the table, taking a deep breath that he refuses to believe shudders. He will have to make an announcement tomorrow. Send droids to clean Kylo’s quarters. Warn the ‘troopers that they will be sharing their facilities again. Warn the officers that the hulking presence of Kylo Ren will soon be returning to walk amongst them.

First he has to lie down on his bed, rolling to the side that he never slept on until six months ago, and try to fall asleep. And if his sleep is filled with ridiculous musings about Kylo’s return, even he won’t remember in the morning.

*

He’s standing in the hangar as the shuttle comes back in. It almost feels like he hasn’t moved in six months. In reality, he has been extremely efficient at getting things done in the time Kylo’s been away.

He is once again grateful for the discretion of the ‘troopers, although he’ll never admit it. He knows that even if Kylo acknowledges him with more than a look, nothing would happen out here in the open. But he can’t help the way he fidgets just the smallest amount as they wait.

The doors open slowly, nothing seeming to happen for several moments. Kylo may have toned down the dramatics after his training last year, but he does still love to make an entrance.

This time is no different.

Seemingly out of nowhere he is in the doorway, not moving at all. He almost appears to be staring at Hux but it’s hard to say. Hux is too busy lamenting how much he covers up when he is in front of others. He wants to inspect the other man, see what changes their time apart has wrought. See if he has new scars, see if he has let his hair grow out or his facial hair grow.

See if there are any suspicious bruises that could only come from mouths or hands.

Kylo begins the descent into the hangar, the ‘troopers saying nothing as they wait for Hux to speak. He finally shakes himself out of his reverie, stepping forward to meet him.

“Ren!” He says, once again feeling like they’re right back where they were the day the man left.

He clears his voice, trying to steady his breathing and keep his back straight. He remembers that day so clearly, remembers the way he couldn’t get any of his thoughts out. The way Kylo appeared to struggle with saying something to him as well. The way he convinced himself not to worry about what Kylo might have said.

Still, there is more warmth than planned in his voice as he continues. “Welcome back, Lord Ren.”

Kylo stops in front of him, Hux thinking for a moment that he isn’t going to respond. He will nod at Hux like he did last time and then turn away.

Perhaps then Hux will finally be able to convince his traitorous heart that this will never go anywhere.

But instead there is the oddest note from the vocoder, almost like a throat clearing. Then, in a voice so soft Hux is barely able to hear it, Kylo responds.

“Thank you, General.” There is a slight pause, as if he isn’t sure whether he should say the next words. Hux hangs on that pause, wondering what he’ll say. He is disappointed.

“It is good to be back on the _Finalizer_.”

Kylo nods to the others behind them, turning one last time to look at Hux. Then he strides from the room, heading toward his own quarters without even asking if they were kept for him.

Hux isn’t sure what to make of the encounter. But he doesn’t allow himself to dwell on it. There is already enough gossip on the ship regarding his behavior in the months since Kylo left. No reason to add fuel to the fire.

He isn’t pleased to feel the same disappointed twinge he’s felt for the past several months.

*

The pacing is probably annoying. If there were anyone else in this room the pacing would be unbearable for them. But fortunately, there is no one in his quarters with him.

 Of course there isn’t. Why would there be? The only person who _ever_ spent an extended period of time in his quarters only arrived back yesterday.

And hasn’t spoken to him at all.

‘ _Oh stop, that’s an exaggeration and you know it.’_

Alright, so Kylo _has_ spoken to him. But they’re always in public, always with others around. And it has been a full day since he returned to Hux—to the _Order_. It would be nice if he had come to speak to Hux at least once.

Even if it was just for sex, at least then he’d know that he still mattered to the other man.

He has almost convinced himself that he is being completely foolish, when there is a sound at his door. Someone is requesting entrance and he’d be almost pleased if it weren’t Kylo he was waiting for.

The man has never waited for his permission to enter.

Yet he opens the door and finds Kylo Ren standing there, stiff and silent. He doesn’t speak when he sees Hux, and with the stupid mask on Hux has no idea why he might be here.

He might have hopes, but no real idea.

“Yes?” he finally says when the silence has dragged on too long. They are standing here, out in the open and looking at each other like fools. He should ask Kylo inside. Ask him how his mission went, ask him to give him full details of where he’s been and not just what was in the mission debriefing.

Ask him if this is the end.

But he wasn’t the one to appear suddenly at someone’s door and he refuses to move until he knows what Kylo is here for.

If he is here for anything unpleasant, Hux will close this door in his face. He would like to live in denial a bit longer, even if it is driving him mad.

They are still silent. Hux is still waiting for some sort of acknowledgement of…anything at this point.

He’s about to give up. About to huff and tell the other man to come talk to him when he’s figured out what he needed, when Kylo lifts his hands.

One goes to the latches on his mask, flicking one side and then the other.

The other hand goes somewhere completely different.

It goes into his hair, gently stroking it in the same way one would stroke a cat. Confident that it is welcome, but also prepared to move away if there is the slightest noise of protest.

Kylo takes the mask off, letting it dangle from his fingertips. But he doesn’t take his hand out of Hux’s hair, which he has his entire focus on. Hux takes this time to study the face he hasn’t seen in months.

There’s nothing spectacularly different about it. The nose is still the same, the lips are still big and chapped and frowning. The blemishes are still prominent and lovely in ways that Hux cannot even begin to describe. The eyes are still deep and opaque and Hux feels the almost forgotten instinct to fall into them as he falls into Kylo all too often. The scar is still there, and there are smaller marks on his face that hint at the things he has been doing while he was away.

They are standing in the doorway, Hux’s hands dangling helplessly at his sides. While neither of them are talkers, Hux knows he needs to stop this from going exactly where it’s about to go. He’s felt this before.

This feeling that the man in front of him needs to be kissed.

He brings his hands up to Kylo’s chest as the other man’s fingers finally lose their grip on the mask. Hux’s hands are the only thing keeping them apart, and the barrier is there as much for himself as it is for Kylo.

They shouldn’t do this in the hallway. They shouldn’t do this where anyone could see them. But if he pulls Kylo into his quarters right now, then they will be back where they left off six months ago. Hux isn’t sure he can do that again.

Isn’t sure he wants to.

“Why are you here, Ren?” His voice is quiet, perhaps a bit desperate, but he refuses to acknowledge this. He wants his question answered and he isn’t moving from this position until it is. He feels the smallest amount of pressure against his constraining hands, but he keeps them firm.

“Why are you here?”

Kylo’s eyes finally come back to his, but they still seem distracted. Still taking his face in, looking for changes that Hux could tell him he won’t find. He lives and works on a spaceship. He hasn’t done anything life threatening or…well, that’s a lie.

Some might consider it unhealthy to engage in skirmishes as a distraction from thinking about your missing lover. But that didn’t stop him from doing it.

He had to do something to keep busy.

His focus returns in time to realize that Kylo is actually talking and another moment for him to hear the words.

“I wished to speak with you.”

He huffs, quirking his eyebrow at the other man. He feels the chest beneath his hands expand as if Kylo is taking a deep breath. Eventually, he continues.

“There are things I wished to ask you, General. Things I didn’t want to say in front of the others but also,” he clears his throat. Shaking the hair that hangs loose around his head, he carries on. “Also, things I needed to formulate the words for. Before I could come to you.”

He looks at Kylo, taking in what’s being said to him. After a brief hesitation, he pushes Kylo gently away and then turns. He feels the hand fall out of his hair, not even realizing it had still been there. He enters his quarters before turning to wait for Kylo to follow. He goes to sit on the couch, but Kylo does not sit with him. He begins to pace, Hux leaning back and watching. He hasn’t seen him this agitated about anything in over a year and it is unnerving.

He freezes suddenly, turning and looking at Hux. “Why did you say it?”

The confusion must show on his face. Kylo begins pacing again, shaking his hands out as if trying to calm himself.

“That day on the hangar. You said…you—I didn’t even expect you to come!” He turns, not looking at Hux, but instead looking behind him. The only thing behind this couch is the bed and Hux has the feeling that Kylo isn’t actually seeing it. At least not seeing it as it currently is.

“I left you here that morning and I. I didn’t think you would come to see me off. You seemed pleased with the mission.”

He sits up straighter, finally feeling the urge to interrupt this ramble Kylo has been going on.

“Pleased? When did I seem pleased? I found out about it, you came here, you…spent the night, and then you left the next day!”

“I asked you what you thought about it!”

“When?!”

But he knows when. That night is burnt into his brain, in all its loveliness and sadness. He had been thinking about the man leaving, thinking about all the things that could go wrong on the mission. Thinking that he would never see Kylo again and the man hadn’t even looked upset about it.

So he’d blown it off and let the man pull him in to be kissed. Kissing Kylo did seem to be his solution to most things in the past year and a half.

He doesn’t get a chance to say anything, because even though Kylo’s body may have stilled, his mouth hasn’t.

“You worried about me, I know this. Upset about the end of this…thing we were doing. But you didn’t seem upset that it was _me_ being sent away from _you_. You were just upset I wouldn’t be around for sex anymore.”

He pulls at his hair before continuing.

“And I hated it. But I accepted it because when did I ever explain to you that it was more than sex for me? I didn’t. Because I am the idiot you always say I am. And I assumed the mission would be a good time to move on, try to get over this stupid _attachment._ ”

He thinks he should feel offense at the other man calling anything related to them stupid. His brain is too busy with other things to think about snide remarks right now though.

“But then you were on the hangar. And you said...what you said. It doesn’t mean anything to you but you said it and I’ve spent the past six months trying to figure out what you meant by it.”

Hux thinks he should possibly move. Get up and go over to this man. Pull his hands out of his hair and bring them to his mouth. Take the time to kiss each finger before moving onto the lips that constantly taunt him.

He has _got_ to work on this compulsion to kiss Kylo every time things get emotional.

Still, he is spewing words out in such a way that Hux thinks they are beginning to lose all meaning for him. It is time to do what he does best.

It is time to shut Kylo Ren up.

“It meant that I love you, you gigantic dolt. I love you and I couldn’t get the bloody words out because I was a coward. I was a coward and you were leaving and I didn’t want you to spend your whole mission worrying about it. This clearly didn’t work because you spent six months worrying about what I ended up saying!”

They stare at each other for a moment. Hux stays seated and then Kylo begins to move toward him.

There is no dramatic moment. They have worked out all the dramatics in the conversation that he is becoming certain is about to end. He leans back on the couch, spreading his legs enough for Kylo to kneel between them.

He stops just before kissing him. Hux’s hand comes once more up to his chest and he is about to pull him in when Kylo leans into his ear.

“Just so there’s no confusion this time, I also love you, you officious ass.”

Hux’s lips have just enough time to curve into a smirk before they are captured.

There is still much that will need to be done. They will need to actually discuss what this means for them. They will have to discuss what to do about Snoke, who never liked their relationship before and certainly won’t now. They will have to discuss all those months apart and all those months they were together but separate.

But for now there is this room, and this moment, and the happy ending they both wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hey on [my tumblr](http://fandomfix8.tumblr.com)!


End file.
